Housekeeper arrested in murder of Salvadoran judge, wife

Salvadoran authorities arrested a housekeeper for her suspected participation with three accomplices in the murder of her employers, a judge and his wife, Attorney General Luis Martinez said Tuesday.

The motive for the double murder, committed last weekend in the eastern city of San Miguel, was to steal jewelry and other property from Judge Tito Nicolas Garcia, 74, and wife Teresa Navarrete de Garcia, 70, Martinez said in an interview with Telecorporacion Savadoreña.

"The judge ... was the victim of a robbery by his employee and she left along with her accomplices in the official's vehicle," he added, without identifying the woman, who was arrested on Monday.

Martinez emphasized that three individuals still being sought by the authorities and the housekeeper are the people "responsible for the murder."

Garcia and his wife were found dead on Sunday in their home in San Miguel, some 138 kilometers (86 miles) east of San Salvador.

The judge's vehicle was found abandoned on Saturday in a rural area near a highway in Usulutan province.

Garcia presided over a criminal court in San Miguel.

The top prosecutor for eastern El Salvador, German Arriaza, confirmed to reporters that the judge was strangled and his wife was stabbed to death. EFE